A disturbing new cybersecurity incident has raised alarms across U.S. telecoms, with revelations this week about a large-scale Chinese hacking campaign known as Salt Typhoon. The sophisticated breach targeted at least eight major U.S. telecom providers, including Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, with attackers successfully infiltrating the networks and siphoning off sensitive metadata—potentially compromising millions of private communications.
The Attack: What We Know So Far
The Salt Typhoon operation is believed to be state-sponsored, with Chinese actors exploiting vulnerabilities in telecom infrastructure to gather data on American citizens. According to experts, the attackers gained access to not only personal data but also possibly phone intercepts, raising serious concerns about privacy and the security of telecom systems vital to national infrastructure.
Senators on both sides of the aisle were briefed on the incident this week, with officials from agencies like the FBI and FCC grilled on how the breach went undetected for so long. While specific details of the attack remain limited, it’s clear that the scale and sophistication of Salt Typhoon have exposed major gaps in U.S. cybersecurity protocols.
The Fallout: What’s Next?
In the aftermath, lawmakers have called for increased scrutiny of telecom providers and a potential overhaul of encryption protocols. It is likely that new legislation will soon be on the table, focusing on stricter encryption requirements, third-party risk management, and tougher penalties for lapses in securing critical infrastructure.
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in our telecommunications networks, which are fundamental to everything from personal communication to national security. As cyber threats from nation-state actors become more complex, the need for stronger, more proactive cybersecurity measures has never been clearer.
While legislative action may be forthcoming, the effectiveness of these proposed solutions remains to be seen. As we’ve learned from previous high-profile breaches, reactive measures often lag behind the evolving tactics of cyber adversaries. The question remains: Will U.S. telecoms and their cybersecurity defenses be able to keep up with the increasingly sophisticated and frequent cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure?
What happens when the backbone of global operations—supply chain software—comes under attack? Starbucks and leading UK supermarkets like Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are now living that reality. A recent ransomware breach on Blue Yonder disrupted everything from payroll systems to fresh produce logistics, sending a clear message: supply chain security is more critical than ever.
Starbucks reported difficulties managing payroll and employee scheduling due to the breach. While store operations remain unaffected, the company has shifted to manual calculations to ensure employees are paid accurately. This proactive approach reflects Starbucks’ commitment to minimizing the impact on its workforce.
UK Grocers Experience Temporary Disruptions
The attack impacted major retailers in the UK, with Morrisons reporting issues in its fresh produce and warehouse management systems. Sainsbury’s also faced brief operational challenges but swiftly resumed normal service. These incidents underscore the far-reaching implications of targeting supply chain technology providers.
Blue Yonder Investigates
Blue Yonder, a division of Panasonic with a client base exceeding 3,000 businesses, identified the incident as a ransomware attack affecting its managed services environment. The company is collaborating with cybersecurity experts to contain the breach and restore services, although a precise timeline for recovery remains unclear.
A Broader Trend in Cyber Threats
This attack follows a disturbing trend of ransomware targeting supply chain platforms, including MOVEit, Kaseya, and others. Such incidents reveal the critical need for businesses to fortify their cybersecurity defenses and evaluate risks associated with third-party providers.
Centraleyes: Advancing Risk Management
Centraleyes empowers organizations to identify vulnerabilities, prioritize risks, and strengthen their cyber resilience. Our platform is designed to help businesses stay ahead of evolving threats and maintain continuity in an unpredictable landscape.
Fake copyright infringement notices are sweeping across inboxes globally, hitting hundreds of companies with a new and devious malware campaign. Since July, cyber researchers at Check Point have been tracking “CopyR(ight)hadamantys,” an attack designed to look like legal copyright warnings but packing a hidden threat—Rhadamanthys, a powerful data-stealing malware.
How It Hooks Victims
The emails pretend to be legal warnings from big-name brands, accusing recipients of copyright violations and pressuring them to “review” details of the infraction in a password-protected file. But instead of legal documents, victims are met with a decoy and a hidden malware file. Industries like tech and media are prime targets, as scammers play on copyright anxiety, nudging recipients to wonder, “Did I actually misuse an image?”
Meet Rhadamanthys: The Malware with a $1,000 Price Tag
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill malware. Rhadamanthys packs advanced features, including optical character recognition (OCR) that can read text from images and PDFs, suggesting an interest in swiping credentials—especially cryptocurrency wallets. The malware’s sophistication has even caught the attention of threat actors tied to nation-states, like Iran-linked Void Manticore and pro-Palestinian groups, adding an extra layer of intrigue.
Stealth Mode Activated
To avoid detection, Rhadamanthys uses a clever trick: it clones itself as a much larger file in the victim’s Documents folder, disguised as a Firefox component. The oversized file’s unique “overlay” data changes its hash, allowing it to slip past antivirus systems that rely on hash-based scanning. Plus, some antivirus programs skip scanning large files to save resources, letting Rhadamanthys hide in plain sight.
How to Stay Safe
Security experts urge businesses to double down on phishing protection and to keep employees alert to suspicious emails. Keeping an eye out for unusually large file downloads from emails may also help, though sorting legitimate from malicious files can be tricky.
We have some important updates to share with you about the Spectra Instagram Feed Block.
Here at Brainstorm Force, we aim to provide the best possible experience. However, sometimes unforeseen challenges arise, and we want to be transparent about the changes affecting the Instagram Feed Block.
From the beginning, our goal has been to simplify the process of displaying Instagram feeds on your website — just log in with your Instagram account, and Spectra takes care of the rest.
However, the reality behind the scenes is becoming increasingly complex.
We have worked tirelessly to maintain the Meta app that powers this block, allowing you to avoid the hassle of creating your own.
Unfortunately, Meta’s continuous restrictions and unpredictable policies have made it increasingly difficult to ensure a smooth experience.
In 2024 alone, we faced four significant issues with Meta, each requiring a considerable amount of time and energy to resolve, yet problems still persist.
Recently, Meta enforced restrictions on our app, forcing us to navigate the entire process to regain necessary permissions.
This ongoing situation places us in a difficult position.
We want to prevent any unexpected interruptions with your Instagram feeds due to Meta’s unpredictable policies.
While we strive to provide you with the best service, this challenge has prompted us to take a necessary step back.
What’s Changing?
To ensure a more reliable solution, we’ve decided that moving forward, you will need to create your own Meta app to use the Instagram Feed Block.
We understand this adds an extra step, and we genuinely regret any inconvenience. However, this will help protect you from unexpected service disruptions caused by Meta’s actions.
Meta has given a deadline of December 4th, but we’ve already received reports that some users are experiencing loading issues with the media from Meta.
While we are doing our best to keep our app running, communication with the Meta team has been challenging due to lengthy response times.
We are currently working on this change and hope to release it by November.
To facilitate a smooth transition, we will provide detailed written and video tutorials to guide you through the process of setting up your own Meta app. These resources will be available soon, and the changes are set to roll out this quarter.
This isn’t just an issue with Spectra; many plugins offering Instagram feed features are facing similar challenges and are also moving toward a user-based app setup due to Meta’s recent changes. These adjustments reflect broader industry shifts in response to Meta’s evolving policies.
Wrapping Up
We deeply appreciate your understanding and patience as we navigate these challenges.
Although this change wasn’t part of our original vision, we remain committed to ensuring that Spectra continues to help you create beautiful websites with ease.
No matter the obstacles, we will always strive to serve the Spectra community.
Thank you for being a part of our journey and for placing your trust in us.
New Features Added – CSS Grid and Movable Title Bar
We are also pleased to announce two new features have been added to Spectra, CSS Grid and Movable Title Bar.
CSS Grid
Building using grids is a useful way to create unique page structures that don’t use the normal layout formula.
Picture a bento box—except not for snacks, but for web design!
CSS Grid introduces the ability to create seemingly impossible page layouts with ease. You’ll be amazed at what you can create!
Here’s a quick walkthrough of how CSS Grid works.
Create a new page and add a parent container block.
The single container works well as we’ll specify how many columns and rows we want in a second.
Select the container and set the Layout Type to Grid rather than Flex in the right menu.
Select the blue + button by Columns and Rows to add more structure to your page.
Add as many columns and rows as you want within the parent container.
Add separate containers to each column and row or style a single container and duplicate it, depending on how you’re building the page.
Select a container and the General tab in the right menu.
Select the Grid Item Settings menu on the right and set the Column Width and Row Height.
Set row height to 2 units for a double height container. Set column width to 3 units to make your container wider.
Finally, select the Advance tab within the Grid Item Settings menu item on the right to position each container.
Use the Column Start, Column End, Row Start and Row End controls to fine tune your layout until it’s perfect.
Once configured, add content, images or other blocks to each container as you see fit.
The CSS Grid feature in Spectra is a powerful new way to build unique pages. It’s fluid, intuitive and makes us wonder why we haven’t always built like this!
Learn how to use CSS Grid in this walkthrough video:
Check it out in the latest version of Spectra!
Movable Title Bar
Another, update to this version of Spectra is the movable title bar. It’s a quality of life addition that enables you to move the page title to the top of any page.
It’s a useful tweak for editors, content creators, template builders and anyone that prefers a simpler page to work on or to design.
You can enable the option within the Spectra Settings menu.
Select the Editor Enhancements tab and toggle Move Title to Top to on.
Open a page and you’ll see the title has shifted to the top of the page, providing a leaner, cleaner page for you to work on or your visitors to enjoy.
As you can see, we made all the right improvements in all the right places. We can’t wait to see what you create with it!
Other Achievements From the Spectra Team
As well as announcing that download figure and new features, we also have a couple of other milestones to celebrate.
100+ Starter Templates
Spectra now has 100+ high quality, readymade site templates you can import and use.
Select the Block Editor as your option and you’ll see some amazing designs covering everything from eCommerce to online learning and everything in between.
Simply select a template, upload a logo, choose a font and a style and import.
All you need to do is add your content and images and you’re ready to launch.
Thanks to AI integration, you can now create an entire website in minutes using the power of artificial intelligence to help generate site copy!
Talking of AI…
ZipWP Custom Website Builder
Fans of ZipWP have been able to use the power of AI to build websites for a while now. It’s an amazing tool, but we knew it could do more.
It’s the fastest, easiest way to create truly custom websites and anyone can do it!
Anyone, with any level of experience can create a first draft website in less than 10 minutes!
Here’s how it works:
Log into ZipWP and select Custom Site with AI from the left menu.
You should see a new page with two tabs at the top, Sitemap and Wireframe.
It defaults to Sitemap first so you should see a home box and a menu on the right.
Enter your business name and description in that right menu to create a wireframe outline of your site.
Write your own business description or use ZipWP’s AI to help.
Click Generate sitemap when you’re ready.
You should now see a sitemap including common pages for the type of business you described.
Select a page within the sitemap and you’ll see boxes containing elements within that page.
You can add, more or replace every box on every page. You can also add and remove pages to create a truly unique website.
All using the canvas builder.
Cool right?
Well, we’re not done yet!
Select the Wireframe tab at the top of the screen.
You should now see a canvas showing outlines of every page in your sitemap.
Zoom in, zoom out, select a page, select a block and manipulate each page as you see fit. If you have used Figma, the principle is exactly the same.
It’s an awesome prototyping tool!
Check out this explainer video that shares everything you need to know about the ZipWP Custom Website Builder!
If you build websites as a business, the AI Website Builder helps you do more, faster, leaving you to perform the tasks only you can do.
What Else Is in Development?
We have lots of plans for new features and improvements but most of them aren’t ready to share just yet.
One improvement that is definitely on the horizon is a new and improved Global Block Styles.
Global Block Styles v2
The current version of Global Block Styles enables you to set a style for a block and have that same style reflected in every block of that type across your site.
It’s a simple but very effective way to ensure consistency across pages and saves a lot of copy and pasting.
Despite how well Global Block Styles works, we’re planning to make it even better.
We can’t share any details just yet, but we think you’re going to love it!
A Big Shout Out to the Community
Finally, we would like to give a big shout out to Karl and other members of the Spectra community who have been providing invaluable feedback and assistance.
We genuinely value your commitment to making Spectra better for everyone and it wouldn’t be as good as it is without your help.
We consider Karl and everyone who contributes to Spectra and anyone who leaves feedback, makes suggestions and interacts with the team, part of the family.
We really couldn’t do it without you!
To celebrate hitting the 700,000 download milestone, we’re offering a special, limited-time discount on Spectra plans.
With such recently released massive updates – why wait for Black Friday?
I had a breakthrough in understanding how to leverage the full power of CSS Grid, and I share everything in this video, so you too can start creating impossi...
In nearly 1,000 days, the WordPress community has created 1,000 Block themes—coming together to use the full potential of the Site Editor and unleash new creative possibilities for everyone.
First introduced in WordPress 5.9, Block themes have steadily evolved, improving flexibility and functionality for themers, users, and agencies alike. Now, design tools allow customizing almost every detail. With style variations, users can change the overall look of their site in a few clicks. You can even use curation options to customize the editing process itself. But we’re not done! We can’t wait to keep pushing Block themes even further. Thank you to every early adopter who, by embracing early features with passion, helped shape the Block themes we love today with feedback and testing.
If you haven’t yet explored Block themes, check out some of the resources below to get inspired:
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